


hold me close, set me free

by dreamism



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Car Accidents, Detective Jeno, Ghost Jaemin, Grim Reaper Jeno, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Light Angst, M/M, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:29:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27584780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamism/pseuds/dreamism
Summary: Detective Lee holds a record of successful cases, but little do people know, he has another job—a Grim Reaper.In return for helping lingering spirits fully cross over, they help him solve his cases. Until he meets a ghost by the name of Nana...
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 58





	hold me close, set me free

**Author's Note:**

> some of the elements are referenced from kdramas 'Oh My Ghost' and 'Goblin'

It’s October 31st again, the most dreaded day of the year for Jeno. Despite the laughter of the kids trick-or-treating outside and halloween parties going into late hours of the night, Jeno spends this day locking himself in his apartment every year. To other people, this day is supposed to be hauntingly fun, but for Jeno, it means being haunted by his own thoughts and none of it is fun. 

Thirty years ago, on October 31st, Jeno was “born”, so technically it is his birthday, but it’s nothing to celebrate when you’re a Grim Reaper and your birthday only signifies the day you were assigned to this daunting job for who knows how long. 

He doesn’t have any memory of his past life before his current life as a grim reaper, but every year on his birthday, blurry images and weird chills that physically pain his heart come and make his day miserable. He has to force himself to stay up the whole night or else terrifying nightmares come to haunt him at night. They flood his whole mind and body, making it impossible for him to wake up from them, trapping him in the dreams and making him relive a torturous event that he is never able to remember the next day. 

Every year, it seems to be the same dream. One that feels so familiar yet so distant, but the way his heart is left in shatters the next morning always feels the same. It feels as if his soul is being ripped out of his body and torn to pieces right in front of him and he can’t do anything to stop it. What annoys him even more is that he always wakes up with absolutely no memory of what actually happened in the dream, leaving him with only an empty heart and lingering pains. 

Which is why he has always taken Halloween day off from his other “human job” as a detective to stay at home and deal with the torture. All his coworkers assume it’s because he’s celebrating his birthday and he just lets them believe that. It’s better than them finding out he’s not entirely like the rest of them and has another side job working between the two worlds of life and death. 

But this year, life decided to be even crueler on this day. 

Just like every year, Jeno went into his boss’s office on the 30th to let him know that he will be taking tomorrow off, but his boss seems to be having a hard time letting him go. 

“Jeno…” his boss, Kun, starts hesitantly. “I know you always take the 31st off every year for your birthday, but we have a little situation this year.” 

Jeno tenses at his boss’s apologetic tone. That can’t mean anything good.

“You know how the small house at the corner of the street has always been haunted right?” Kun asks rhetorically because who doesn’t know about the infamous house in town that has been haunted for decades.

“Yeah…” Jeno nods slowly, getting a sense of where this conversation is going. 

“Well, we think we should reopen the case. You know, to give our office a little boost in performance,” Kun laughs nervously. He knows Jeno’s perfect record with all the cases he has dealt with, but this case has been abandoned for so long because not a single person has been able to solve the mystery.

The owner of the house went missing thirty years ago. The search went on for nearly a year, but the case was left to be abandoned due to the lack of evidence. In fact, there is absolutely no trace of anything from the crime scene, other than the completely burned down car that was crashed into a tree and left by the side of the road. If it wasn’t for the previous landlord of the house who was trying to check if they had leftover mail at the house, no one would have known that the new homeowner had been missing for days. 

“So you want me to take on the case?” Jeno asks with a sigh. 

“You’re our best detective, Jeno.” Kun gets up from his desk to walk over to Jeno, giving him a comforting pat on the shoulder. “I know tomorrow is usually your day off, but the investigation is scheduled to start tomorrow. You don’t have to be there for the full day if you don’t want to, but it would be great if you could be there to lead the team for a bit.” 

Jeno always takes pride in his job, working tirelessly to fulfill his duties, but he doesn’t feel too good about this case. Something about it just tells him he’s not going to succeed no matter what happens. It doesn’t help that the investigation is starting on his cursed birthday, but maybe it’s time he takes on a challenge. And maybe making himself busy will distract him from the heartache too. 

“Okay, I’ll take it.” Jeno looks at how Kun’s soft smile turned into a bright one as the older pulls him into a hug. 

“I knew you would do it,” Kun says proudly. “You and the team can start at night if you want the day off.”

“Yeah, I’ll let them know.” He pulls out his phone to shoot his team a text, letting them know about their new case. 

“And happy birthday in advance!” Kun gives him another pat on the back as he leaves his boss’s office. 

\------

“I really don’t feel too good about this case,” Renjun complains as he’s the first one on the team to enter the empty house.

“It just looks like an empty house to me,” Hendery adds while letting his eyes roam around the empty living room. He looks back to see Jeno following behind them, jotting down something on his notepad. “Detective Lee, notice anything yet?” 

“Nope, not yet.” Jeno carefully steps out of the empty living room and into the kitchen, looking around at the dusty counters and empty cabinets. The place seems to be completely unoccupied, no trace of anyone ever living here at all. He wonders if they’ll be able to find anything useful since judging by the looks of the house, it seems like the missing homeowner never made it to the house. 

Their whole office knows that Jeno has a special eye for things when it comes to cracking cases. During investigations, he’s always able to catch onto something that helps lead them to the truth within days, sometimes even within hours. They always joke around saying that Detective Lee can see and hear things that the rest of them can’t, and during jokes like that, Jeno can only play along and laugh it off. Little do his coworkers know, he really can hear and see things normal people can’t. 

Never would he have thought that his two jobs as a Grim Reaper and a detective would have any crossovers, but he has found that his ability to see lingering spirits has helped him immensely when it comes to solving tough cases. 

Lingering souls are trapped between the human and spiritual world because they still have regrets or things that they are unable to let go of in the human world. Once they get their closure, they are able to finally be at peace and rest in the spiritual world. The lingering souls of the victims from his cases often stay around the crime scene, hoping to be freed from the human world, making it easy for Jeno to get the details of the case from them. He’s then able to solve the case, while the spirits can finally rest in peace and let go of their grievance.

Jeno came into this case expecting not to find much evidence, considering the incident happened decades ago, but he’s still holding onto a little bit of hope. 

Surprisingly, the gnawing pain in his head and heart that hit him harder than ever this morning is starting to go away. He has never been able to calm his heart on this day in previous years, maybe busying himself with work does help after all.

He continues taking careful strides throughout the small house, looking around at the unused appliances and countertops. The place is definitely old, but it doesn’t seem worn down at all. As if the owner just remodeled everything and let it sit for thirty years, untouched. However, the loud creaking coming from the wooden floor as he takes careful strides through the house reminds him that the house is indeed very old. 

He follows the narrow hallway and enters the master bedroom to see that there’s two closets, one on each side of the room. He notes that down on his notepad, maybe that means the missing homeowner lives with someone. 

As he enters the bathroom, he notices how there are two sinks as well, solidifying his speculation of two people living in the house. But if the homeowner really did have someone else he was living with, why didn’t that person report the missing person? Unless-

The sound of quiet footsteps running brings Jeno out of his thoughts. He immediately goes back into the living room, startling Renjun and Hendery with his sudden appearance. 

“What was that?” Jeno questions, watching the rising fear in his two teammates' eyes. 

“What...What do you mean?” Hendery stutters, checking behind him to make sure there wasn’t something he was missing.

“Did one of you run?” Jeno asks again. 

“Stop, you’re scaring me,” Renjun fakes a laugh to calm himself down, but it doesn’t help much when Jeno is still looking at him with a serious gaze. 

“Nevermind, I’m probably imagining things,” Jeno lets out a breath and shakes his head. “I’ll take one more look at the guest room and we’ll wrap up for today. There doesn’t seem to be much to see here.”

Jeno gives his two teammates an assuring nod, before turning around to head back down the hallway to the bedrooms. He takes a peak in the master bedroom again to double check, but doesn’t find anything new. 

As leave the room and he closes the door behind him, the floorboard behind him makes a loud creak, making him whip his head around to see someone standing right behind him. 

“Renjun, what are you doing creeping up like that?”

“Sorry, I just wanted to take a look in here too. Didn’t mean to scare you,” Renjun says bashfully, opening the door that Jeno just closed and taking a peek.

Jeno approaches the room opposite of the master bedroom and opens the door. The metal doorknob makes a screeching noise when it turns, followed by a soft shuffle of footsteps, this time definitely not coming from behind him. 

He takes a deep breath and pushes the door open completely, revealing a slightly smaller and equally empty room. But in the corner, a pair of bright eyes stare right back at him.

“Detective Lee, what are you looking at?” Renjun asks nervously, coming up behind Jeno and looking around the empty room over his shoulder, trying to figure out what Jeno could possibly be looking at, but sees nothing. 

Jeno realizes he has been staring at the looming figure in the corner of the room for too long. He can’t have people figuring out that he can see what they can’t. Plus, he doesn’t want to creep Renjun out too much.

“Nothing…I think we can call it a day,” Jeno responds with a small smile, giving the room one last look and closing the door on the figure that’s still standing in the corner of the room.

  
  
  


If it was any other day, Jeno would have approached the figure after his teammates went home, but he really isn’t in the mood to hear other people’s sad stories today. He already has enough problems of his own that come haunt him today, he doesn’t need another lingering spirit’s miserable life story burdening him today. 

But once again, life decided to be extra cruel today.

“Why are you following me?” Jeno snaps, turning around to face the stunned figure behind him. His eyes soften a little, seeing the ghost flinch at his voice, but the slight fear immediately disappears and his previous nervousness morphes back to a cheerful little jump.

“Ah ha! So you _can_ see me,” the ghost cheers, clapping his hands so loudly the humans can probably hear too.

 _God damn it_ , Jeno curses inwardly. He should’ve just pretended not to notice the ghost following him so he wouldn’t have to have this conversation right now. 

“Yes, I can see you. Can you leave me alone now? I’m not really in the mood to talk today. I can come find you tomorrow.”

“Why aren’t you wearing your Mr. Sexy outfit today?” The ghost completely ignores Jeno’s request and proceeds to take a step closer, eyeing the detective up and down. 

“My _what_ outfit?” Jeno nearly shouts, but remembers how stupid he probably looks if a person were to walk by right now and see him yelling into empty space. 

“The all-black one. You know, the one with the black turtleneck and black trench coat. Oh, and the black fedora or whatever, but that really needs to go, it ruins the fit if you ask me.”

Jeno is even more confused now because how on earth does this ghost know so much about him? The ghost seems to be around his age and judging from the light blue hair and soft knitted sweater, the ghost is a more adventurous and playful one. He has to admit, the ghost is definitely a pretty boy, but when did he get himself a stalker ghost?

“Oh right, that’s your Grim Reaper outfit, huh?” The ghost snaps his fingers like he just had a grand realization. He takes another step closer to Jeno, flashing his cocky smirk as if he knows Jeno’s biggest secret. “But since you’re not wearing the Mr. Sexy outfit, I guess you’re not here to take me with you then, _Mr. Grim Reaper?_ ”

Jeno stares in disbelief, not knowing how he managed to blow his own cover this fast. “No, wait- You- How do you-”

“Oh please, I’ve been around here probably for as long as you’ve been a Grim Reaper. I’ve seen you take those others to your magical little tea shop and a nice little wind chime jingles as they go off to heaven,” the ghost says animatedly, clasping his hands together as if he’s dreaming about a magical castle in a far away land. “I always see you walk around with your Mr. Sexy outfit and take the other spirits away with you. I’ve always wondered when it’ll be my turn,” his voice drifts off and his eyes lose the spark that was there earlier.

“Well I don’t know either. You’re one of those lingering ones,” Jeno says with a shrug, but regrets it when he sees the ghost’s eyes turn dull and the pretty smile fades away.

The ghost’s shoulders drop and looks down at his worn-out shoes. He’s been around for so long he’s starting to forget how long it really has been. The other spirits always ask him when he’s leaving, but that’s exactly what he wants to know too. “It’s not like I still want to be here,” he mumbles, barely audible, but Jeno still catches it. 

Something tugs on his heart as he watches the ghost lose his cheerfulness and it makes him forget about the other lingering pain in his heart momentarily. Just as he was about to tell the ghost to find another Grim Reaper for help, another sharp pain hits his heart, causing him to clutch his chest and bend over. 

“Are you okay?” The ghost asks worriedly, rushing over to Jeno, but retreats his hands when he remembers he can’t physically help with anything. 

“Y-Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Jeno tries to wave it off, but still struggles to straighten his back. “I’m just having a rough day today.”

“I can walk home with you,” the ghost suggests. “To make sure you’re okay, if that’s okay with you.”

Jeno wants to reject the offer since he really just wants to be left alone for the rest of the night. He doesn’t need this talkative little ghost following him home and asking him why he isn’t going to sleep for the rest of the night. But he just can’t seem to get the rejection out of his mouth, so he settles with the offer. 

  
  
  


“Your apartment is so cute and cozy!” The ghost wanders around Jeno’s living room. 

“Oh, umm, thank you,” Jeno responds awkwardly. He’s never had anyone come to his apartment since there never was a need to have anyone over. Plus, he doesn’t need people questioning why he has a whole outfit hanging by his door as if he’s about to attend a funeral any minute. 

“Oh, look, it’s the Mr. Sexy outfit!” The ghost walks over to the coat rack where the all-black outfit is. He looks at the shiny leather shoes and black trench coat in awe, but scrunches his nose a little at the hat. 

Jeno dismisses the excitement in his voice because he really doesn’t understand what there is to love about the clothes he has to wear when he’s doing his tasks as a Grim Reaper. He chooses to ignore the small noises of awe coming from the ghost and decides to make himself a cup of hot tea. It’s going to be a long night considering he can’t seem to get the ghost to shut up and he can’t bring himself to ask the ghost to leave either. 

  
  
  


“Oh my God, I didn’t even get to ask yet. What’s your name?” The ghost asks, after settling down on the other side of the couch across from Jeno. 

“Why does that concern you?” Jeno asks back, not noticing how his tone got a little harsh again, but the ghost seems to be used to it now. 

“I don’t know,” the ghost shrugs. “Out of all the people who I noticed can see me, you’re the first and only person who acknowledged me. Most of them just run away and pretend nothing happened.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.” Jeno understands that feeling of loneliness. He can’t say the same about people running away, but he definitely knows what it’s like to have no one to talk to. “And I’m sorry if I keep snapping at you, I don’t mean it. Like I said, it’s a rough day for me.” 

“That’s okay, you’re a Grim Reaper and a detective. That can’t be easy.” A genuine smile spreads across the ghost’s face. “You’re doing amazing, umm..”

“Jeno.” 

“Jeno, you’re doing amazing!” 

“Thank you.” Jeno responds with a soft smile as well. The heavy feeling in his heart seems to be slightly lifted again. “What’s your name?” 

“Nana.”

“Nana?” Jeno lets the name roll off his tongue. He likes the way it sounds cute and soft, just like the boy sitting in front of him.

“You see, when you’ve been hanging around this world between humans and spirits for so long like me, you start forgetting about things from the human life,” Nana explains. “I don’t think I ever knew anything else other than someone used to always call me Nana. It’s the last thing I heard before I...you know.” 

“Yeah, I know, you don’t have to talk about it right now if you don’t want to,” Jeno stops him from explaining any further. He can see Nana is still having a hard time talking about his past life, which he can relate to because he too can physically feel the pain when he tries too hard to remember his past life. 

They sit in silence for a bit, just listening to the soft music coming from Jeno’s record player and watching the car lights zoom by in the streets below. 

Jeno feels weirdly comforted by the ghost’s presence, but then again, he’s never had a companion in his apartment with him before. He’s starting to like having someone who can understand his weird struggles. He doesn’t remember the last time being this at ease, not to mention it being the most dreaded October 31st—his _birthday_ too. 

“I’ll tell you one more thing, if you want to hear it. You don’t have to think too hard on it today, we can both save the thinking for tomorrow,” Jeno starts, smiling at the way Nana turns his head back from the windows to look at him with his sparkly eyes. Despite being a ghost for decades, his eyes never lost their spark.

“What is it?” 

“Your real name… It’s Na Jaemin.”

\------

“So...You used to live here?” Jeno asks as he pushes open the front door to the old house. He figured being in a familiar environment could help with Jaemin recalling things from his past life. 

“I think so?” Jaemin responds unsurely. “It’s been so long since the day I realized I am no longer alive in the human world and merely a lingering spirit. I just remember waking up by the side of the road and for some reason there was something in me telling me to come here, but I really can’t remember anything from my past life.” He’s tried so hard to think of anything from his past life that could cause him to still be stuck here, but nothing comes to mind no matter how hard he tries. The only thing he knows is that the house meant a lot to him, which is why he still haunts the place to make sure no one else occupies it.

Jeno jots down the answers carefully, making sure to document anything that could be useful. “Do you know when your accident happened?”

“It’s been exactly thirty years now,” Jaemin lets out a light chuckle, shaking his head in disbelief because it’s really been that long already. “I woke up on the night of Halloween. It was a gloomy and rainy night, as if the sky was crying for me too. I remember seeing these little kids dressed up so happily as ghosts and scaring each other, but little do they know how much scarier it actually is living as a ghost.” 

There’s still a sting in his heart that claws at him when he talks about that day. The day when he woke up in confusion and despair. A haunting voice in his head crying for “Nana”, but over time, even that voice has slowly left him alone too. He has given up on trying to remember his past life, but it’s time he gets his case solved. Maybe that will help him leave behind all his unknown sorrows that are holding him back from fully crossing over. 

“Yesterday...” Jeno feels something tugging inside of him. It’s still a miracle that the nightmares didn’t come back to haunt him last night. For once he was able to get a peaceful few hours of sleep on his couch last night, while Jaemin took the opposite side. “What’s up with Halloween being torture day for all of us,” he mumbles to himself.

“Is Halloween meaningful for you too?” 

“I wouldn’t say meaningful, but it’s my birthday, I guess you could call it,” Jeno shrugs. “I was assigned to be a Grim Reaper on Halloween, also thirty years ago. They told me it is a form of repentance for people who have sinned like me.”

“Do you remember what you did?” Jaemin asks carefully, trying to see if there’s any sign of annoyance coming from Jeno, but the detective doesn’t seem to care.

“Nope, we don’t hold any memories of our past life,” Jeno chuckles, shrugging it off like it’s no big deal. 

“Well, I guess that makes the both of us,” Jaemin says cheerfully, trying his best to lighten up the mood. 

“We can work on it together,” Jeno smiles back, feeling a little bit of hope for this case after seeing Jaemin’s bright smile.

“I’ll try my best to bring back some memories and I’ll let you know!”

“Thank you for sharing, Jaemin.” 

“You can call me Nana,” Jaemin corrects. “I like the way it sounds when you call me Nana.”

“Thank you, Nana.” 

  
  


\------

  
  


The whole night, Jeno stayed up going through the files and documents of the case. There’s a missing piece to it that has been bothering him and it’s hurting his head from thinking about it for so long. He knows that the car that Jaemin was in was burned down, causing no trace of the body to be left, but the question is, what caused the fire to start burning? It could be because of the car exploding, but no one reported sounds of explosions. So that could mean someone else set the fire and left the car to burn, destroying all evidence of a suspect. But why would anyone set a stranger’s car on fire? Unless...it wasn’t a stranger?

There’s a strange gut feeling that is trying to hold him back from going to the location of the accident, but he pushes it aside. He needs to take this case seriously and get to the bottom of this. For the sake of his job, but also for Nana.

He’s on his way to the site of the accident when another sharp pain hits his heart just as he makes a turn. It causes him to swerve to the other side of the road, but he immediately pulls himself together and thankfully there are no other cars around. The big tree by the edge of the road is already in sight, bringing a familiar feeling to Jeno’s mind, but he can’t seem to pinpoint where the feeling is coming from.

He parks his car by the side of the road, right in front of the tree, the tree that was there thirty years ago and still stands tall today. The familiar setting sends a rush of memories flooding into his head.

He feels a pang in his heart, sending a wave of an unfamiliar sorrow that crushes straight through his heart and soul. It’s like thousands of voices are screaming at him, impossible to escape from no matter how hard he tries to block his ears. There’s so many memories playing back in his mind it’s making his head spin. His fists are held tight in his hair and he hits his head against the steering wheel to try and stop the attack, but the voices don’t stop. His heart is racing faster and he screams for it to stop, but one voice comes through loud and clear. 

_“Jeno! Watch out!”_

Jeno whips head and turns his whole body to face the passenger side, finding the owner of the voice looking back at him, eyes filled with complete terror. 

He stares back at the figure sitting in his passenger seat as he feels his heart being ripped out and crushed. Warm tears stream down his cheeks and a pained cry is ripped out his throat as another familiar voice screams in his head.

_“NANA!”_

It’s his own voice screaming, calling out for the boy that’s sitting beside him in the passenger seat.

He scrambles to reach out and hold the boy, but the figure vanishes, leaving Jeno alone in the car with all his painful memories.

  
  
  


It’s all coming back to him. 

The nervous, giddy feeling of running away and starting a new life in a new town where no one knows them. 

The excitement of finally being on the road with their few belongings in the back of the car. 

The unsettling thoughts that worried them when they saw that the winding road was starting to get slippery from the thunderstorm.

The fear that rushed through his body when he started to lose control of the car. 

The few moments when he was struggling to come back to his consciousness, drowning in darkness as he desperately wanted to call out for his boyfriend. 

Then the excruciating pain, not just from his body, but from his heart. Seeing his lover’s body lie lifelessly next to him, unresponsive to his cries and touch. 

He remembers holding his boyfriend close to him for hours, sitting in the darkness, praying to anyone who will listen to let his love come back to him. But reality was cruel, it always has been. His Nana left him forever, and it was all his fault. 

The guilt ate him up, tearing the last bits of his heart to pieces. 

With one last kiss on his lover’s pale lips, he let their love burn with the fire. 

_“Wait for me, Nana. I love you.”_

  
  
  


Jeno always imagined his memories to be dark and cruel. It must have been bad for him to be punished with the job of a Grim Reaper, but he never imagined it to be like this. 

He doesn’t know how to face his past, nor does he know how he’s going to face Jaemin’s spirit anymore. 

He drags himself back to his apartment, hoping to run through his thoughts and figure out what he’s supposed to do next. But the minute he opens the door, he’s met with the one he’s trying to avoid. 

“Nana...” Jeno calls out weakly to the ghost sitting on his couch, knees hugged close to his chest and dried tears still painted on his cheeks. 

“I remembered,” Jaemin’s voice cracks a little, but he still looks up at Jeno. 

“I did too.” Jeno’s heart breaks at the sight and he’s scared of what Jaemin has to say about the memories, but he doesn’t find anger or detest in his eyes.

“Can you call me again?” 

“Nana… My Nana…” Jeno stumbles over to reach where Jaemin is sitting. 

“Just when I thought I would finally be able to leave in peace, it had to turn out this way,” Jaemin sighs, the cheerful and teasing tone is his voice gone.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. It’s all my fault,” Jeno chokes on his sobs, tears flooding down his face. 

“No, it’s not your fault.” Jaemin shakes his head as he feels his own eyes start to well up with tears again too. “It’s just how things turn out to be sometimes and none of it is your fault.” 

The once beautiful moments are now painful memories of the life they had together. The memories have turned into broken shards that stab at their hearts, leaving them wounded with regret and misery.

“Do I have to go now?” Jaemin breaks the silence and looks over to Jeno with glassy eyes. Just two days ago, he was hoping Jeno would take him away and finally free his spirit, but now he desperately wants to stay longer. 

As much as Jeno doesn’t want to face it, it’s time to set Jaemin free. He has suffered enough from lingering in this world for so long. It’s time he let his Nana rest in peace. 

\------

The job of a Grim Reaper is Jeno’s punishment, but there are moments where he truly sees the beauty in his job. It eases his heart, knowing he’s able to accompany these souls on the last part of their journey in this world. He has sent off countless spirits in the past thirty years, some leave with happiness and some leave with reluctance. He has always waved them off with a comforting smile, but this time, it’s hard for him too. 

“I’m glad I finally get to be at the magical tea house with you,” Jaemin says with a lighthearted giggle. He looks down at the pink floral tea cup in his hand and swirls the hot tea. He brings it close to his mouth to smell the faint jasmine scent and with a tip of his head, he lets the floral aroma enter his mouth.

Jeno smiles at his optimism. He remembers how Jaemin would always be the one to cheer him up when things got hard. The younger’s sweet smile and little jokes would always brighten his mood. 

“I remember what you said to me,” Jaemin begins, eyes meeting Jeno’s confused ones. “You probably didn’t hear my response at the time, but I’ll make sure to keep my promise.”

Jeno doesn’t get any further explanation. He watches Jaemin get up from the seat across from him and walk towards the door. 

“Come on, open the door for me,” Jaemin waves him over. “I’ll see you sooner or later.”

And with a soft clink of the wind chimes, Jeno watches Jaemin disappear behind the heavy door.

  
  
  


Just like every case, Jeno was able to solve the mystery and set a spirit free. Except this time, he set himself free as well. 

With a heavy heart, Jeno handed in his letter of resignation. Kun tried hard to ask him to stay, but he said he had family stuff to take care of that required him to move back home. 

The farewell party with his coworkers was bitter sweet, where they all wished him the best and hoped to see him again sometime in the future. He didn’t have the heart to tell them that they would never be able to see him again.

  
  
  


Jeno sits in his tea house one last time, looking around to see the thousands of cups placed on the walls. 

He leisurely gets up and walks to the last empty spot on the wall, right next to a pink floral cup, where his yellow checkered cup fits perfectly. 

He takes one last glance at the tea house that has seen numerous beautiful souls come and go.

The wind chime rings one last time as Jeno pushes the heavy door open, ready to finally set himself free. 

He’s surprised to see someone standing at the other side of the door, but the sight makes a smile bloom across his face, turning his eyes into beautiful crescents.

“I told you I heard and remembered what you said to me. I listened to you so here I am, waiting for you,” Jaemin says, the cheery and playful tone back in his voice again.

Jeno walks over and takes Jaemin’s hand in his, intertwining their fingers and finally indulging in the feeling of holding Jaemin close to him again. 

It’s been thirty years too long, but they have the rest of eternity to come.

**Author's Note:**

> i finally got to posting this here, hope you enjoyed!
> 
> stay safe and healthy<3


End file.
